Return
by Gilraen Elensar
Summary: There it was. The huge monstrous being, its shadow taking up the whole area. Nine snake like tendrils swishing behind it. The fiery depths of its eyes causing a shred of fear to go through him. It looked as if it was stalking its prey as it moved towards him. Snarling and growling.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Return

Summary: There is a silent power at work. Unknowingly advancing. Known to none, except one. Haunted and Mysterious. Shounen ai….

Warning: Shounen ai

Pairings: Maybe Neji / Naruto and more.

He was running, there was no where to go. It was dark. The murky water under his feet, shining strangely from the moonlight. There wasn't a single sound. There should have been, he was after all running past the forest. It was quiet, too quiet.

He stopped, looked around for movement. There was none. A branch snapped, its crunch echoed, causing nesting birds to fly away.

Suddenly there was the familiar splash behind him. His long silky hair whipped past him as he turned swiftly.

There it was. The huge monstrous being, its shadow taking up the whole area. Nine snake like tendrils swishing behind it. The fiery depths of its eyes causing a shred of fear to go through him. It looked as if it was stalking its prey as it moved towards him. Snarling and growling.

His hands went to his pouch to find something to throw at it. The pouch wasn't there. He panicked, the last thing any ninja would do in this situation. All rationality left him as his terror increased. His breath came in gasps, lungs beginning to hurt. He put his hands together in a seal, to perform his signature jutsu. Nothing happened. He tried again and again, but still nothing. It felt like he had no chakra at all.

He tried activating byakugan. But to no avail. He then realised he was sinking, it was as if he was never a ninja. What had happened to his chakra. It was hopeless. The wasn't anything he could do. The nine tails was advancing on him. He was choking on the water, he tried to move his arms but he was paralysed.

He was going to die. He didn't want to, not yet. He wanted to see his team mates, his little cousins, and Naruto. He didn't know why he wanted to see Naruto, but he did.

It looked like it wasn't going to happen. He saw it. It's jaws opened wide, humongous teeth dripping with blood. He saw it, Naruto's orange jacket, with the spiral. No! It had already eaten Naruto. He couldn't do anything. "No!" he screamed, "You can't do that, not to him," fear won his pride. "Don't come any c-closer."

The last thing he saw was it's cruel laughter and its tails whipping about._

Neji woke up. He was breathing hard, the fear he felt in the dream still lingering. He pushed the sheets aside, got up from his bed and went to the window sill. He opened the window, letting the cool breeze inside.

He leaned against the window frame and started to think about these dreams. They have been going on since the beginning of the week. It was always the same one again and again. The nine tailed fox was always there and its laughter was always the last thing he hears before waking up.

He didn't know why it was always Naruto, the nine tails had eaten or mutilated. He didn't even know why he was dreaming about the nine-tails or Naruto in the first place, he has nothing to do with either of them.

The fact that he associated Naruto with the nine-tails was laughable. But there was something about Naruto, something hidden. He'd noticed after the Chunin exams, the strange chakra that came from Naruto after he had blocked Naruto's chakra system. It was impossible, but you would expect the unexpected from the number one unpredictable ninja.

It had been three years since that day. Neji had trained even more in the hopes that he would be able to defeat Naruto next time in battle. He had improved his jutsus and even invented a few. Now that he thought about it, Naruto was supposed to be coming back tomorrow. Hokage-sama had informed the whole of rookie nine last week.

What he found weird was that the thought of seeing Naruto again felt ominous and a felling of dread crept up his spine as he remembered the whole reason he was thinking about Naruto.

He shivered as the wind blew into his room and through his thin night clothes. He shut the window and went and sat on his bed, his back on the headboard of the bed. He leaned against it and sighed. He realised that he was fearful of meeting Naruto, not of Naruto but the fact that Naruto always died by the nine-tails hand. He was very afraid. He had never felt this humiliated by a dream, reducing him to a shivering mess.

Neji came to a decision. He was going to stop thinking about the nine tails. The Yondaime killed it and it is never coming back. He should really star to make an effort as these dreams were affecting some of his ninja duties, his team-mates were beginning to notice, even Lee, who was always on about training.

Neji prepared himself for another sleepless night.

**Please review! Tell me whether I should continue. Friendly criticisms and advice are accepted.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Neji heard the quick rustling and movements next door. Hiashi-sama had put Hinata in the room next to his in the hopes that they would get along, which failed explicably as Neji ignored mostly everyone in the Hyuuga house. The hate he had felt for Hinata wasn't there anymore as Naruto had seen to that. It wasn't really hate, he was just being ignorant and self-pitiful back then, as much as it pains him to admit. The Neji now and the Neji then were so different. Anyone who knew him back then would be completely astonished if they met him now. Of course his team was shocked. He still kept up the cold persona on the outside, as anyone who walks past him looks down as they walk in fear of looking into his glaring real Neji was just as vulnerable and insecure as any human being, not that he'd let anyone figure that out.

There was a thud. It came from next door. Of course Hinata couldn't sneak away unnoticed with the noise she was making.

Neji had successfully stayed awake throughout the night, he knew it was unhealthy but he couldn't help it. The need to close his eyes came but his cousin waking up had distracted him which he was really thankful for. He had listened to the shower being turned on and cupboards being opened and closed, all the while trying to stay awake.

He realised that Hinata was probably going to wait for Naruto and hide behind a tree even though Naruto was meant to arrive in the afternoon. It was a complete waste. He didn't know why his cousin even bothered to pine after Naruto. Everyone knew about her crush, except Naruto himself. He definitely knew that Naruto wouldn't date Hinata as she was too quiet and shy while he was all hyperactive. If they ever had a relationship, Neji shuddered at that, he didn't know what he would do. He didn't even know why he was even thinking about such things. Neji decided to forget about it as it made him feel strange and bothered. It was almost as if he was jealous... No... that can't be right... Ok that's it... He wasn't going to think about this any longer.

Neji came out of his thoughts to realise that people were starting to move around now, there were birds chirping and bright sunlight flickering through the curtains. He was lost in his thoughts for that long? There was no movement next door. That was to be expected. It was his day off today but he couldn't relax.

He was sleep deprived which was making him irritable. 'maybe a shower would help' he thought and made his way to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror to see bloodshot pale eyes and much more pale skin, his hair in a mess, without the headband. Looking at his eyes reminded him of not being able to use byakugan in the dreams, he quickly activated his bloodline to find out it worked, which was a relief. It wasn't a pretty sight with the swollen bloodshot eyes. After Neji had a shower, and had eaten breakfast, he was no better off than before. Neji slipped on a kimono from one of the cupboards, too tired to see what colour it was, as it also contained some of Hinata's custom made kimonos for battles which was similar to the male kimonos.

After this thought went through his head he realised was wearing one of Hinata's as it was too soft and smelled like blossoms. Neil couldn't walk all the way back to his room to change again, because of the lack of his energy. That was whole reason he wore a kimono as he was too tired to equip himself with his normal attire and Chunin vest and it was Team Gai's time off anyway after they went on that B-ranked mission which turned out to be an A-rank.

They had severe casualties, as they had been facing Orochimaru after they had unknowingly wandered into the enemy's hiding place.

He groaned and slumped in his couch, thankful that no one was there to witness this un-Neji like behaviour. He didn't want to think of that failure of a mission anymore. There was an ache building up behind his eyes, Neji rubbed them to get rid of it but that only made it worse. Just as he was about to doze off, the door burst open and in walked Lee, ( more like skipped in). "NEJI!" Neji was being shaken by the green clad ninja. There were black dots appearing in his vision, but he ignored it and tried to pay attention to Lee. He could only understand a minuscule of what was being said. Something like, "Naruto...today...arrived..." before he knew it everything was a blur, as he was dragged in a speed so fast that it knocked his breath away. He was going to kill Lee later, but right now he was focusing on staying conscious. Before he knew it, they were standing in front of something orange, which kept going fuzzy. It was saying something. The next thing he knew was, the fuzzy orange thing putting it's hand on his forehead. He was going to shout at it, to mind his personal space, but he couldn't muster up the energy to. His head hurt, everything was going too fast. And it was too cold, the summery breeze went through his kimono as he wasn't wearing anything over it.

He could feel warm arms wrap around him as the world tilted sideways. There was something on his face, he tried to shake his head to get rid of it only to realise it was his hair still slightly wet from the shower and he'd forgotten to tie it up.

He must have looked a real sight, he started to feel ashamed at himself for showing weakness in front of all the others that were crowding over him. He turned in someone's arms, away from the crowd and a pink blur trying to use chakra to do something to him and towards the warmth and the orange. He gripped weakly onto the orange and whispered quietly, "No, the fox is going to get me," Neji was startled when the orange figure stiffened and became cold trying to pull away, "no... don't go... it will get me..." Neji gripped him harder not letting the orange move away, "...stay..." he whispered hopelessly, bordering on tears.

Before Neji blacked out, the only thought on his mind was how Hinata-like he was acting and a dreadful terror that he was succumbing to his dreams again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Naruto put his arms behind his head, "EVERYONE, I'M BAC..." a pink fist smashed into his face sending him flying all the way back to the gates, shutting him up effectively.

Naruto rubbed his face, slight tears of pain emerging, " What was that for Sakura-chan?" he sulked, "I only just got back!"  
>Sakura's face twitched as if waiting to explode, she made a noise if frustration and then started their usual banter.<p>

Then the long awaited argument started!

Only to be interrupted by Rookie nine's arrival with the exception of Rock Lee. Which was surprising, considering the agile ninja was usually following Sakura around.

Naruto looked around and observed the sight of the village, finally after three years, 'he sighed' not a thing has changed! Which was a relief as he had been worried about meeting all of his friends again in fear of awkwardness.  
>He must admit, the slight isolated feeling that took over, in his childhood still remained.<p>

His sensei for the past three years tried to get that self preserving paranoia of his dim down slightly, but now that he was back to the place where it all began, it starts up again.

There isn't a doubt that he loves Konoha, but it tends to get a bit stifling at times. Right now it seemed like he was walking into a trap, which is ridiculous considering the fact that this is his home village with all of his friends, but something didn't seem right. There was a sense of doom and death in the air, Naruto turned up to sniff but caught himself in time.

Giving clues to his friends, obvious like these would cause doubt and suspicion.

It'a just, that ever since he found out about the Kyuubi from Mizuki, he was adamant in keeping this tightly closed secret to himself. Even though he was pretty sure that Kakashi sensei knew, but has never pushed him to reveal it to his teammates, which was a relief. As he couldn't handle any confrontation just yet.

The sense still remained, his nose now much more sensitive after borrowing the Kyuubi's chakra made it impossible to ignore. It was getting harder to pretend nothing was going on, someone like as Shikamaru was bound to notice.

Just as he was going to shout out some excuses about getting ramen and sneaking off, the smell of fear and death deepened and he could feel it getting closer and closer.  
>Just as he was going to run off, Rock Lee appeared with a long haired girl at his side, hair seeming to cover her face still wet probably from a shower. Her kimono adorned with fragile flowers showed off her slimness.<p>

But when the smell reached him, Naruto let out a surprised noise as he realised who that was. He heard laughing from Kiba as he had already realised that it was Neji, Shikamaru just muttered, "Troublesome..."  
>Even Sakura and Ino looked surprised, as they finally saw whose face it was.<p>

Naruto realised something was wrong so just as he reached Neji's side, he toppled over almost falling in slow motion.  
>Naruto just caught him in time and lowered him to the floor as he smelt scented flowers from whatever hair products Neji used.<br>As he focused more on the smells, he smelt fear and tiredness on Neji, immediately thinking what on earth happened to the Hyuuga heir to make this happen.

There were dark circle surrounding Neji's eyes, appearance even paler than before and a sudden weightlessness.

Just as Sakura arrived to try and heal him only to be pushed away and Neji turned towards Naruto instead and clutched desperately onto him.

He whispered the words that made Naruto's blood freeze ice cold and cause dread to creep up freezing any movement. Neji slumped into unconsciousness.

Thankfully none of the others heard what was said as Sakura's concerned voice came even closer, "We need to take him to Tsunade..."

"Yeah..." Naruto replied dazed, then he picked up Neji in his arms, cradled him and shunshined all the way to the Hokage's office.


End file.
